Google Wallet, NFC Open Up Ecommerce

The financial markets may fluctuate, but the way we think about currency, as well as the way we pay for our online goods and services has pretty much remained unchanged—until now. The technology that we've been using is about to be put to new use. Innovative payment methods and devices that we can't conceive of are about to transform e-commerce. Google Wallet launched this week, emptying wallets of cash, credit cards, gift cards, and loyalty cards in one clean sweep.

It's hard to believe now, but there was a time when there was doubt if e-commerce would take off. Back in 1995, online users were hesitant to give their credit card information to a startup retailer named Amazon. The transition to purchasing online was not a smooth one. There were missteps then, and there certainly will be now.

To create the same kind of cultural shift that was required for e-commerce to be successful, a few things are going to have to happen: some standards, some security, and force of habit. And it doesn't hurt if there's a little excitement about the whole thing.

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Keep Me Searching for a Farm of Gold

Keep Me Searching for a Farm of Gold

Year Introduced: Late 1990s
For gold mining, go west, but for gold farming, go east. The practice of gold farminginvesting hours of time in obtaining goods in a virtual world and then selling them for real currencyis most prevalent in China and South Korea. It's often prohibited in most games' terms of service, but that hasn't done much to curb its popularity. Nor has the news that China forces prisoners, political and otherwise, to gold farm or realization that even those who choose to gold farm for a living do so under sweatshop conditions. Ironically, FarmVille may end up being one of the few games that's farming-free, since its parent company Zynga has filed a lawsuit to stop sales of its currency.